Image Forming Apparatus and Job Information Management Method

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is an image forming apparatus, including: a first storage section to store a plurality of pieces of job information each having a plurality of data items corresponding to a plurality of items; a second storage section to store read-out definition information in which one or more of the items to be read out from each of the pieces of job information are set; an input section to input an instruction to read out one or more of the pieces of job information; and a control section to extract one or more of the data items corresponding to one or more of the items set in the read-out definition information from each of the one or more of the pieces of job information when the instruction is inputted by the input section, and to output the extracted one or more of the data items.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a jobinformation management method.

2. Description of Related Art

There has been recently known an image forming apparatus such as aprinter, a scanner, a facsimile, a copying machine and a MFP (MultiFunction Peripheral) having various functions such as an image formingfunction, a copying function, a scan function, a facsimile function,etc. of the above machines.

Information of jobs executed by an image forming apparatus (hereinafterreferred to “job information”) is managed for the purpose of storing jobinformation of a job whose execution has been completed into a memory,tabulating the job information according to an application specified bya user or a predetermined item, and displaying the tabulated result or ahistory of the job information.

For example, JP-A-2004-178325 discloses a job account server whichmanages job information outputted to printers from a client computer. Inthe job account server, at first, a tabulation item for tabulating jobinformation is set, and job information is obtained from job informationrecorded in a job log recording section based on the tabulation item.Then, history information included in the obtained job information istabulated, and the tabulated result of the tabulated history informationis outputted to the client computer.

According to JP-A-2004-178325, the job information is stored in anexternal device which is provided outside the image forming apparatus,and the external device manages the job information. In recent years,since job information comprises huge items, capacity of one piece of jobinformation is large. Therefore, there is a problem that a communicationload increases when job information is transmitted and written into anexternal device through a network. Furthermore, when job information isread out from the external device, job information of all itemscontaining some unnecessary items for a user is read out, and thus thereis a problem that an unnecessary communication load occurs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is, therefore, a main object of the present invention to reduce acommunication load when job information is read out and to increase aspeed of reading out the job information.

To achieve at least one of the above objects, an image processingapparatus reflecting a first aspect of the present invention comprises:a first storage section to store a plurality of pieces of jobinformation each having a plurality of data items corresponding to aplurality of items; a second storage section to store read-outdefinition information in which one or more of the items to be read outfrom each of the pieces of job information are set; an input section toinput an instruction to read out one or more of the pieces of jobinformation; and a control section to extract one or more of the dataitems corresponding to one or more of the items set in the read-outdefinition information from each of the one or more of the pieces of jobinformation when the instruction is inputted by the input section, andto output the extracted one or more of the data items.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provideda management method of job information in an image forming apparatusincluding a first storage section to store a plurality of pieces of jobinformation each having a plurality of data items corresponding to aplurality of items and a second storage section to store read-outdefinition information in which one or more of the items to be read outfrom each of the pieces of job information are set, the managementmethod, comprising: accepting an instruction to read out one or more ofthe pieces of job information; extracting one or more of the data itemscorresponding to one or more of the items set in the read-out definitioninformation from each of the one or more of the pieces of jobinformation by referring the read-out definition information stored inthe second storage section when the instruction is accepted; andoutputting the extracted one or more of the data items.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, advantages and features of the presentinvention will become more fully understood from the detaileddescription given hereinbelow and the appended drawings which are givenby way of illustration only, and thus are not intended as a definitionof the limits of the present invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a configuration of an image forming system according topreferred embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows an internal configuration of an image forming apparatusaccording to the preferred embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows a configuration example of a definition file stored in anonvolatile memory of the image forming apparatus;

FIG. 4 shows an example of history files stored in an HDD of the imageforming apparatus;

FIG. 5 shows an example of a data configuration in each of the historyfiles;

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of a job history data output processingaccording to the preferred embodiments of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an operation of extracting dataitems from job history data.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described withreference to the drawings.

First, a configuration in the present embodiments will be describedbelow.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration of an image forming system A according topreferred embodiments of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming system A has an image formingapparatus 1 and an external device 2, and the respective devices areconnected to each other through a network so that information can bemutually transmitted/received therebetween. In FIG. 1, three imageforming apparatuses 1 and one external device 2 are connected to oneanother, however, the numbers of apparatuses and devices are not limitedto specific values.

Software for providing contents to be browsed on a browser or forbrowsing an operation screen using a browser is installed in the imageforming apparatus 1. The image forming apparatus 1 has both an imageforming function and a function as a browser and a web server, andexecutes processing in accordance with an operation instruction from anoperating section of the image forming apparatus 1 or an operationinstruction which is transmitted from the external device 2 or the likethrough the network N. The image forming apparatus 1 may be applied to acopying machine, a printer, a facsimile or a multi function peripheral(MFP) or the like.

The external device 2 is to browse the operation screen of the imageforming apparatus 1 using a browser and to transmit an operationinstruction to be executed on the operation screen to the image formingapparatus 1 for the purpose of remote supervision or remote control ofthe image forming apparatus 1. The external device 2 may be applied toan information processing device such as a general-purpose PC. In thisembodiment, the external device 2 is provided on the assumption that aplurality of image forming apparatuses 1 are remote-controlled. On thecontrary, it is possible to provide no external device 2.

The network N may be LAN (Local Area Network), WAN (Wide Area Network),or may include a telephone circuit network, ISDN (Integrated Servicesdigital Network), a broad band communication line network, a dedicatedline, a mobile communication network, a communication satellite line,CATV (Community Antenna Television) line, an optical communication line,a wireless communication line and an internet service provider forconnecting them, etc.

Next, the image forming apparatus 1 will be described.

FIG. 2 shows an internal configuration of the image forming apparatus 1according to the present embodiments.

As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus includes a controlsection 10, a nonvolatile memory 11, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 12, anHDD (Hard Disc Drive) 13, an operating section 14, a display section 15,an image memory 16, an image processing section 17, a communicationsection 18, an image reading section 20, a print section 30, etc., andthese sections are electrically connected to one another.

The control section 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), etc.,loads a system program, various kinds of control programs and variouskinds of data stored in the nonvolatile memory 11 into RAM 12, andcontrols the respective sections constituting the image formingapparatus in cooperation with these programs and the data.

Furthermore, when an instruction to read out one or more pieces of jobinformation (hereinafter, the job information will be referred to as“job history data”) is inputted from the operating section 14 or theexternal device 2 connected through the communication section 18, thecontrol section 10 implements job history data output processing(described later). One piece of job history data includes job data of ajob whose execution has been completed, and has a plurality of dataitems corresponding to a plurality of items. In the job history dataoutput processing, the control section 10 extracts one or more of thedata items corresponding to one or more of the items set in one ofread-out definition files (described later) stored in the nonvolatilememory 11 from each of the pieces of job history data, and outputs theextracted one or more of the data items.

In the job history data output processing, when an instruction to selectone of a plurality of definition files, an instruction as to whether oneor more of the pieces of job history data to be read out are displayedat a destination device or not, and the date of one or more of thepieces of job history data to be read out are inputted by the operatingsection 14 or the external device 2, the control section 10 extracts oneor more of the data items corresponding to one or more of the items setin the selected read-out definition file from each of the pieces of jobhistory data corresponding to the date and outputs the extracted one ormore of the data item, and also outputs a display conversion table and adisplay format section (a display language and a display format) whichare contained in the definition file to the display section 15 or theexternal device 2.

The non-volatile memory 11 includes a non-volatile memory such as a ROM(Read Only Memory) and an HDD. The non-volatile memory 11 stores asystem program, various kinds of control programs, a program forexecuting the job history data, output processing executed by thecontrol section 10, data associated with these programs, and thedefinition files as a plurality of pieces of read-out definitioninformation, etc. The non-volatile memory 11 functions as a secondstorage section.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a configuration of the definition file.

As shown in FIG. 3, the definition file 110 has a display conversiontable section 111, a job history data section 112 and a display formatsection 113 including a target item number section 113 a in which one ormore numbers for identifying one or more items to be read out from thejob history data (hereinafter referred to as “target item number”) areset.

The display conversion table section 111 is a conversion table forconverting each target item number and a numerical value representingthe data item corresponding to the target item number to characterstrings. For example, if the target item number is “04” and the dataitem corresponding to the target item number is “1” or “2”, the targetitem number of “04” represents a power source, the data, item of “1”represents “ON”, and the data item of “2” represents “OFF”. That is, ifthe data item of the target item number “04” is “1”, “04” and “1” areconverted to “power ON”. If the data item of the target item number of“04” is “2”, “04” and “2” are converted to “power OFF”.

The job history data section 112 is an area in which one or more of thedata items extracted from each piece of job history data are stored.

The display format section 113 defines the target item number section113 a in which one or more target item numbers of one or more items tobe read out are set, a display language of one or more data itemscorresponding to the one or more target item numbers set in the targetitem number section 113 a (for example, html), and a display format ofeach of the data items based on the display language.

The definition file 110 is preset, or generated when an instruction toset an item number is accepted by the operating section 14 or theexternal device 2 and an instruction to set the accepted item number asa target item number to be read out from the job history data. Thedefinition file 110 is stored in the non-volatile memory 11.

The RAM 12 provides a working area for temporarily storing various kindsof programs executed by the control section 10 and data associated withthese programs. The RAM 12 includes a reserved job managing area, a jobhistory managing area and an intermediate buffer. The reserved jobmanaging area stores job data of a reserved job whose execution has notbeen completed. The job history managing area stores job data of a jobwhose execution has been completed as job history data. The intermediatebuffer temporarily stores a preset number of pieces of job history datato be stored into the HDD 13

The HDD 13 stores a plurality of history files as job information groupsinto which a plurality of pieces of job history data are classified bydate. The HDD 13 is a non-volatile memory having a larger capacity forstoring job history data than the RAM 12. The HDD 13 functions as afirst storage section. The first storage section is not limited to anHDD.

FIG. 4 shows an example of history files 130 a, 130 b, 130 c, 130 d, . .. , stored in the HDD 13. FIG. 5 shows an example of a dataconfiguration in the history file 130 b shown in FIG. 4.

As shown in FIG. 4, the HDD 13 stores a plurality of history files 130a, 130 b, 130 c, 130 d, . . . into which a plurality of pieces of jobhistory data are classified by date.

As shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of pieces of job history data andinformation of ON/OFF of the power source of the image forming apparatus1 are stored time sequentially. Each of the pieces of job history dataincludes a plurality of data items corresponding to a plurality of itemnumbers. The information of ON/OFF of the power source is handled as jobhistory data. The item numbers are for identifying each of the itemsconstituting the job history data. For example, “01” represents theidentification number of a job, “02” represents the number of outputsheets, “03” represents the number of copies of the output sheets. Thatis, the data item corresponding to each item number represents the stateof the job corresponding to each item, the result of the job, etc.

The operating section 14 has various kinds of operating hard keys suchas a copy start key, ten keys, etc., and outputs operation signals ofthese operation hard keys to the control section 10. The operatingsection 14 has a touch panel provided so as to cover an LCD of thedisplay section 15. The operating section 14 detects a touched andindicated coordinate by a coordinate reading principle such as anelectromagnetic induction system, a magnetostriction system, apressure-sensitive system or the like, and outputs the detectedcoordinate to the control section 10. The operating section 14 acceptsan instruction to read out one or more of the pieces of job history datastored in the HDD 13, date of one or more of the pieces of job historydata to be read out, an instruction to select one of the definitionfiles 110, and an instruction as to whether one or more of the pieces ofjob history data are displayed at a destination device. Thus, theoperating section 14 functions as an input section.

The display section 15 includes a display screen such as an LCD (LiquidCrystal Display), and a VRAM (Video Random access Memory) fortemporarily storing data for displaying an operation screen on thedisplay screen, etc. The display section 15 displays various kinds ofscreens according to data written in the VRAM by the control section 10.For example, the display section 15 displays the extracted one or moreof the data items of each of the pieces of job history data according toan instruction from the control section 10.

The image memory 16 is comprised of a DRAM (Dynamic RAM), and includes acompression memory for temporarily storing compressed image data, and apage memory for temporarily storing non-compressed image data to beprinted before printing.

The image processing section 17 compresses image data outputted from theimage reading section 20 or image data transmitted through thecommunication section 18 on the basis of an instruction from the controlsection 10, and writes and temporarily stores these compressed imagedata in the compression memory of the image memory 16.

The communication section 18 includes various kinds of interfaces suchas NIC, a modem, USB, etc., and mutually transmits/receives informationto/from an external device on a network N.

For example, the communication section 18 receives an instruction toread out one or more of the pieces of job history data stored in the HDD13, date of one or more of the pieces of job history data to be readout, an instruction to select one of the definition files 110, and aninstruction as to whether one or more of the pieces of job history dataare displayed at a destination device, from the external device 2connected through the network N. Thus, communication section 18functions as the input section. The communication section 18 transmitsthe extracted one or more of the data items of each of the pieces of jobhistory data, and the display conversion table section 111 and thedisplay format section 113 of the selected definition file 110, to theexternal device 2.

The image reading section 20 includes a light source, a photoelectricconversion element such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Devices), etc. at thelower side of a contact glass. The image reading section 20 opticallyscans a document placed on the contact glass, photoelectrically covertsreflection light from the document by the CCD, and then conducts digitalconversion to obtain image data of the document.

The print section 30 includes a paper feeding section (not shown) forfeeding various kinds of sheets, and forms an image on an sheet on thebasis of image data stored in a page memory in accordance with an printinstruction by the control section 10. Any image forming method such asan electrophotographic method, an ink jetting method may be used.

Next, an operation of the present embodiments will be described.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the job history data output processingaccording to the present embodiments.

The processing shown in FIG. 6 is executed in cooperation with thecontrol section 10, the program of the job history data outputprocessing stored in the non-volatile memory 11, the selected definitionfile 10, the RAM 12 and the HDD 13, etc.

The control section 10 accepts a request from the operating section 14or the external device 2 connected through the communication section 18(step S1). This request includes an instruction to read out one or morepieces of job history data, date of one or more pieces of job historydata to be read out, an instruction to select one of the definitionfiles 110, and an instruction as to whether one or more pieces of jobhistory data are displayed at a destination device.

The control section 10 searches a history file corresponding to the dateincluded in the request accepted in step S1 from the HDD 13, anddetermines one or more pieces of job history data to be read out, whichare stored in the history file (step S2).

The control section 10 judges whether the request accepted in step S1includes an instruction to display one or more pieces of job historydata (step S3). If there is no instruction to display in the request(step S3: No), for example, when the one or more pieces of job historydata are read out and downloaded, the processing goes to step S5.

If there is an instruction to display one or more pieces of job historydata in the request (step S3; Yes), the control section 10 outputs thedisplay conversion table section 111 constituting the definition file110 which is accepted and selected in step S1, to a destination device(step S4).

When the request is accepted from the operating section 14, thedestination device corresponds to the display section 15. When therequest is accepted from the external device 2, the destination devicecorresponds to the external device 2. However, the destination device isnot limited to the display section 15 or the external device 2.

The control section 10 refers to the target item mmber section 113 aconstituting the definition file 110 accepted and selected in step S1(step S5), extracts one or more data items corresponding to one or moretarget item numbers set in the target item number section 113 a, fromeach piece of job history data determined in step S2, and outputs theextracted one or more data items to the destination device (step S6).

The control section 10 judges whether the request accepted in step S1includes an instruction to display one or more pieces of job historydata (step S7). If there is no instruction to display in the request(step S7: No), for example, when the one or more pieces of job historydata are read out and downloaded, the processing is finished.

If there is an instruction to display one or more pieces of job historydata (step S7; Yes), the control section 10 outputs the display formatsection 113 constituting the definition file 110 accepted and selectedin step S1, to the destination device (step S8), and then thisprocessing is finished.

Since the output processing in steps S4, S6 and S8 are executedsequentially, the display conversion table section 111, the one or moredata items and the display format section 113 seem to be collectivelyinputted to the destination device as viewed from the destinationdevice.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an operation of extracting dataitems from job history data.

As shown in FIG. 7, the history file 130 b corresponding to the date(for example, 2007/04/26) contained in the accepted request is searchedfrom the HDD 13.

A plurality of pieces of job history data stored in the history file 130b are determined to be read out.

Then, the target item number section 113 a constituting the selecteddefinition file 110 is referred to, and one or more data itemscorresponding to the target item numbers set in the target item numbersection 113 a (for example, item numbers 02, 03, 97 and 98) areextracted from each piece of job history data of the history file 130 b.

The one or more data items 131 b corresponding to the target itemnumbers (that is, the extracted data items) are to be outputted to thedestination device.

As described above, according to this embodiment, since one or more dataitems corresponding to the target item numbers set in the definitionfile are outputted as job history data, only necessary data items can beoutputted without outputting any unwanted data items. Thus, thecommunication load can be reduced when one or more pieces of job historydata are read out, and a speed of reading out the job history data canbe increased.

Furthermore, when the request is accepted, a user can select thedefinition file 110 to be used for this processing from the plurality ofdefinition files 110. Therefore, the data item to be extracted can bechanged in accordance with an application of job history data to be readout, and thus the controllability of the read-out of job history datacan be enhanced.

Furthermore, when an instruction to display one or more pieces of jobhistory data is accepted, information necessary for displaying one ormore data items (the display converting data section, the display formatsection) can be outputted. Thus, it is possible to display one or moredata items constituting each piece of job history data at the outputdestination.

Because the HDD 13 stores a plurality of history files into which aplurality of pieces of job history data are classified by date, it ispossible to easily read out one or more pieces of job history data on adate basis when the date of one or more pieces of job history data to beread out is accepted. Therefore, the communication load can be reduced.

Furthermore, since one or more data items extracted as job history datacan be outputted to the external device 2 through the communicationsection 18, it is possible to reduce the communication load and toincrease a speed of read-out when one or more pieces of job history dataare transmitted to the external device 2.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments.It will be apparent that various changes may be made without departingfrom the scope of the invention.

According to one aspect of the preferred embodiments of the presentinvention, there is provided an image forming apparatus, comprising: afirst storage section to store a plurality of pieces of job informationeach having a plurality of data items corresponding to a plurality ofitems; a second storage section to store read-out definition informationin which one or more of the items to be read out from each of the piecesof job information are set; an input section to input an instruction toread out one or more of the pieces of job information; and a controlsection to extract one or more of the data items corresponding to one ormore of the items set in the read-out definition information from eachof the one or more of the pieces of job information when the instructionis inputted by the input section, and to output the extracted one ormore of the data items.

According to another aspect of the preferred embodiments of the presentinvention, there is provided a management method of job information inan image forming apparatus including a first storage section to store aplurality of pieces of job information each having a plurality of dataitems corresponding to a plurality of items and a second storage sectionto store read-out definition information in which one or more of theitems to be read out from each of the pieces of job information are set,the management method, comprising: accepting an instruction to read outone or more of the pieces of job information; extracting one or more ofthe data items corresponding to one or more of the items set in theread-out definition information from each of the one or more of thepieces of job information by referring the read-out definitioninformation stored in the second storage section when the instruction isaccepted; and outputting the extracted one or more of the data items.

Because one or more of the data items corresponding to one or more ofthe items set in the read-out definition information are outputted asjob information, only necessary data items can be outputted withoutoutputting any unwanted data items. Therefore, it is possible to reducethe communication load when the job information is read out, and toincrease a speed of reading out the job information.

Preferably, the second storage section stores a plurality of pieces ofread-out definition information, the input section further inputs aninstruction to select one of the pieces of read-out definitioninformation stored in the second storage section, and the controlsection extracts one or more of the data items corresponding to one ormore of the items set in one of the pieces of read-out definitioninformation selected through the input section and outputs the extractedone or more of the data items.

Preferably, the second storage section stores a plurality of pieces ofread-out definition information, in the accepting, an instruction toselect one of the pieces of read-out definition information stored inthe second storage section is further accepted, and the extracting isperformed by referring the selected read-out definition information.

Accordingly, since one of the pieces of read-out definition informationcan be selected, it is possible to change a data item to be extracted inaccordance with an application of job information to be read out, and toenhance the controllability of reading out the job information.

Preferably, the read-out definition information includes a conversiontable to convert each of the data items to a character string, anddisplay format information including a display language of each of thedata items, the input section further inputs an instruction as towhether one or more of the pieces of job information to be read out aredisplayed at a destination device, and the control section outputs theconversion table and the display format information together with theextracted one or more of the data items when the instruction to displayone or more of the pieces of job information at the destination deviceis inputted by the input section.

Preferably, the read-out definition information includes a conversiontable to convert each of the data items to a character string, anddisplay format information including a display language of each of thedata items, in the accepting, an instruction as to whether one or moreof the pieces of job information to be read out are displayed at adestination device is further accepted, and in the outputting, theconversion table and the display format information are outputtedtogether with the extracted one or more of the data items.

Accordingly, it is possible to display one or more of the pieces of jobinformation at the destination device.

Preferably, the first storage section stores a plurality of jobinformation groups into which the pieces of job information areclassified by date, the input section further inputs date of one of thejob information groups to be read out, and the control section extractsone or more of the data items corresponding to one or more of the itemsset in the read-out definition information from each piece of jobinformation of one of the job information groups corresponding to thedate inputted by the input section.

Preferably, the first storage section stores a plurality of jobinformation groups into which the pieces of job information areclassified by date, in the accepting, date of one of the job informationgroups to be read out is further accepted, and in the extracting, one ormore of the data items corresponding to one or more of the items set inthe read-out definition information are extracted from each piece of jobinformation of one of the job information groups corresponding to thedate.

As described above, because the first storage section stores a pluralityof job information groups into which the pieces of job information areclassified by date, it is possible to easily read out one or more piecesof job information on a date basis. Therefore, the communication loadcan be reduced.

Preferably, the image forming apparatus further comprises acommunication section to communicate with an external device, whereinthe control section outputs the extracted one or more of the data itemsto the external device through the communication section.

Preferably, in the outputting, the extracted one or more of the dataitems are outputted to an external device through a communicationsection of the image forming apparatus.

As described above, since one or more data items extracted as jobinformation can be outputted to the external device, the load of thecommunication with the external device can be reduced, and a speed ofread-out can be increased.

Preferably, the image forming apparatus further comprises a displaysection to display one or more of the pieces of job information, whereinthe control section outputs the extracted one or more of the data itemsto the display section.

Preferably, in the outputting, the extracted one or more of the dataitems are outputted to a display section of the image forming apparatus.

The present U.S. patent application claims a priority under the ParisConvention of Japanese patent application No. 2007-151596 filed on Jun.7, 2007 which shall be a basis of correction of an incorrecttranslation.

Although various exemplary embodiments have been shown and described,the invention is not limited to the embodiments shown. Therefore, thescope of the invention is intended to be limited solely by the scope ofthe claims that follow.

1. An image forming apparatus comprising: a first storage section tostore a plurality of pieces of job information each having a pluralityof data items corresponding to a plurality of items; a second storagesection to store read-out definition information in which one or more ofthe items to be read out from each of the pieces of job information areset; an input section to input an instruction to read out one or more ofthe pieces of job information; and a control section to extract one ormore of the data, items corresponding to one or more of the items set inthe read-out definition information from each of the one or more of thepieces of job information when the instruction is inputted by the inputsection, and to output the extracted one or more of the data items. 2.The image forming apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second storagesection stores a plurality of pieces of read-out definition information,the input section further inputs an instruction to select one of thepieces of read-out definition information stored in the second storagesection, and the control section extracts one or more of the data itemscorresponding to one or more of the items set in one of the pieces ofread-out definition information selected through the input section andoutputs the extracted one or more of the data, items.
 3. The imageforming apparatus of claim 1, wherein the read-out definitioninformation includes a conversion table to convert each of the dataitems to a character string, and display format information including adisplay language of each of the data items, the input section furtherinputs an instruction as to whether one or more of the pieces of jobinformation to be read out are displayed at a destination device, andthe control section outputs the conversion table and the display formatinformation together with the extracted one or more of the data itemswhen the instruction to display one or more of the pieces of jobinformation at the destination device is inputted by the input section.4. The image forming apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first storagesection stores a plurality of job information groups into which thepieces of job information are classified by date, the input sectionfurther inputs date of one of the job information groups to be read out,and the control section extracts one or more of the data itemscorresponding to one or more of the items set in the read-out definitioninformation from each piece of job information of one of the jobinformation groups corresponding to the date inputted by the inputsection.
 5. The image forming apparatus of claim 1, further comprising acommunication section to communicate with an external device, whereinthe control section outputs the extracted one or more of the data itemsto the external device through the communication section.
 6. The imageforming apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a display section todisplay one or more of the pieces of job information, wherein thecontrol section outputs the extracted one or more of the data items tothe display section.
 7. A management method of job information in animage forming apparatus including a first storage section to store aplurality of pieces of job information each having a plurality of dataitems corresponding to a plurality of items and a second storage sectionto store read-out definition information in which one or more of theitems to be read out from each of the pieces of job information are set,the management method, comprising: accepting an instruction to read outone or more of the pieces of job information; extracting one or more ofthe data items corresponding to one or more of the items set in theread-out definition information from each of the one or more of thepieces of job information by referring the read-out definitioninformation stored in the second storage section when the instruction isaccepted; and outputting the extracted one or more of the data items. 8.The management method of job information of claim 7, wherein the secondstorage section stores a plurality of pieces of read-out definitioninformation, in the accepting, an instruction to select one of thepieces of read-out definition information stored in the second storagesection is further accepted, and the extracting is performed byreferring the selected read-out definition information.
 9. Themanagement method of job information of claim 7, wherein the read-outdefinition information includes a conversion table to convert each ofthe data items to a character string, and display format informationincluding a display language of each of the data items, in theaccepting, an instruction as to whether one or more of the pieces of jobinformation to be read out are displayed at a destination device isfurther accepted, and in the outputting, the conversion table and thedisplay format information are outputted together with the extracted oneor more of the data items.
 10. The management method of job informationof claim 7, wherein the first storage section stores a plurality of jobinformation groups into which the pieces of job information areclassified by date, in the accepting, date of one of the job informationgroups to be read out is further accepted, and in the extracting, one ormore of the data items corresponding to one or more of the items set inthe read-out definition information are extracted from each piece of jobinformation of one of the job information groups corresponding to thedate.
 11. The management method of job information of claim 7, whereinin the outputting, the extracted one or more of the data items areoutputted to an external device through a communication section of theimage forming apparatus.
 12. The management method of job information ofclaim 7, wherein, in the outputting, the extracted one or more of thedata items are outputted to a display section of the image formingapparatus.